Vertical feeder for magazine in magazine feed

ABSTRACT

A vertical feeder for a magazine in a magazine feed apparatus comprises a bell crank pivotally mounted on a shaft secured to a frame for checking up the accommodated article. The bell crank actuates the engagement and disengagement of a ratchet claw in a corresponding ratchet groove provided on a slide member for the magazine receiving rack. The ratchet claw is adapted to be interlocked by means of a link with the lateral stroke of the lateral feeding device for the apparatus for lifting the magazine.

United States Patent [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1953 Pierce Masahide Isobe 72] Inventor Miura-Gun, Japan [21] Appl. No. 838,504

214/6(H) 2l4/8.5(A)

[22] Filed July2, 1969 [45] Patented Jan.26, 1971 Primary Examiner-Gerald M. F orlenza Assistant Examiner-George F. Abraham Attorney-McClew and Toren [73] Assignee TokyoSokuhan KabushikiKaisha Kola-gun, Japan [32] Priority Aug. 19, 1968 [3 3] Japan [3 1 43/5899] [54] VERTICAL FEEDER FOR MAGAZINE IN ead .mnw n r 0 Q6 mmm u a .mm e H e nmh aO wPw m n .m f k m w ru r m m S le .5m Cr nPm vw A m d t m A PC Sd B M Aks MAGAZINE FEED 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

article. The b gagement of a 214/164, ell crank actuates the engagement and disen- 214/301 ratchet claw in a corre sponding ratchet groove 238; 271/62, 88 apparatus for lifting the magazine.

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Y Mnsnmos 15055 MM (MM M VERTICAL FEEDER FOR MAGAZINE IN MAGAZINE FEED The present invention relates to a vertical feeder for a magazine such as a wire bonder and diebonder for a semiconductor product in a magazine feed.

Due to the increase of quantity in mass production for semiconductor product in recent years, rapid operation has become important to obtain an efficient magazine feed. Such magazine feed comprises a lateral feeder and a vertical feeder in order to achieve easy and rapid feeding of the material to be worked to the operating station and feeding the worked material from the operating station. However, in the vertical feeder of a hitherto known type, the limit switch is generally used for controlling the motive power source, such as an electric motor or a pneumatic cylinder exclusive, for the vertical feeding operation through a relay or solenoid valve in order to feed the magazine longitudinally one by one pitch for realizing whether the ribbon has been completely released from one magazine while the ribbon being accommodated within the other magazine is stacked in multiple tiers. This is done in such a manner that the ribbon is accommodated in multiple tiers within the magazines located on both of right and left hands wherein the ribbon stacked in the uppermost tier at the height applicable for being fed in the lateral direction is subjected to be displaced in the lateral direction in a one by one pitch spacing for entire release from the magazine. Accordingly, after the operation has been completed, the magazine is adapted to be displaced longitudinally by one pitch spacing until the next ribbon stacked in the second tier is raised up to the proper level for feeding in the lateral direction. The ribbon being entirely released from the magazine after having been fed in the lateral direction by one pitch spacing, then the and, as is accomplished for feeding the magazine again longitudinally by one pitch, so that the ribbon stacked in the third tier is raised up to the level for feeding in the-lateral direction and then is lateral in the lateral direction by one pitch. In repetition of operation, the ribbon stacked in multiple tiers within the magazine is fed to the central operating station one section after another. After processing at the central operating station the ribbon is fed to another magazine, wherein the ribbon is accommodated in multiple tiers and, as the operation proceeds, the magazine is displaced longitudinally by one pitch at a time and the ribbon fed to the magazine is stacked in the second tier for piling up in multiple tiers after repetition of the successive operations. But the device of the above-mentioned type has many drawbacks in its complicated construction and in the possibility for causing trouble in operation.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a device for effecting the vertical feed of a magazine employing a simple construction without incurring any trouble which is supposed to occur when there is a complete elimination of the foregoing motive power source, such as an electric motor or a pneumatic cylinder as well as the relative controllers used exclusively for vertical operation in the above mentioned vertical feeder. The invention is realized by utilizing a bell crank pivotally mounted on a pin secured to the frame, whereby the aforementioned ribbon is subjected to be checked up whether it has entirely been released from one magazine as well as has been accommodated within another magazine in such a manner that the operation of engagement and disengagement with the ratchet groove provided on the slide member of the receiving rack for the magazine corresponds to the longitudinal feeding claw carried by the ratchet device for vertical feeding, such a vertical movement of the longitudinal feeding claw will make mechanical connection of the vertical feeder with the lateral feeder for utilizing lateral stroke of the latter feeder.

The present invention will be further described referring to the attached drawings by way of example.

H6. 1 is an elevational front view of a vertical feeder for a magazine in a magazine feed showing one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of H0. 1 showing the arrangement of a ribbon stacked in the second tier from the top which is raised up to the level to be fed laterally after the ribbon initially located in the uppermost tier has been entirely fed therefrom, the ribbons being accommodated in multiple tiers within the magazine on the left-hand side, (the word so-called ribbon in the description of the present invention represents a tape or belt);

FIG. 3 is an elevational front view of the magazine located on the left-hand side shown broken away with the ribbon stacked in the second tier being fed in the right hand direction by one pitch spacing when the ribbon has been raised up to the level applicable required for feeding in the lateral direction;

FIG. 4 is an elevational front view of the magazine located on the right hand side shown broken away indicating the arrangement of the magazine when the ribbon is accommodated within the uppermost tier of the magazine; and

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of another embodiment of a vertical feeder for a magazine in a magazine feed relating to the present invention showing the arrangement of the ribbon located in the central operating station as it is displaced into the lowermost tier within the magazine on the right-hand side and after the ribbon located in the uppermost tier within the magazine on the left-hand side has been fed entirely into the central operation station and, in turn, the ribbon located in the second tier from the top has been lifted to the level required for feeding in the lateral direction.

The lever of a lateral feeder is designated by the numeral 1, and it is pivotally mounted on a pivot pin 2 secured to a frame A and in the feeding stroke in the direction of the arrow A1, a ribbon 3 is adapted to be fed in the right-hand direction by one pitch spacing while in the reverse stroke in the direction of the arrow B1, the ribbon is subjected to be retained at the initial position of the feeding stroke without any feeding action. A The numeral 4 represents a left-hand magazine mounted on a receiving rack B secured to a slide member 5, and is movable lightly in the vertical direction and is located at the left-hand end in the drawing. The numeral 6 designates a revolving shaft, one end of which is secured to a lever 7 while its other end is connected tightly to a lever B, the left end of the lever 7 is hinged to a longitudinal feeding claw 9 which is engaged with a ratchet grove 10 provided on a receiving rack B, the ratchet groove 10 is also engaged with another claw l2 hinged on a pivot pin 11, the other claw 12 is pushed toward the ratchet groove 10 by means of a spring 13, the upper end of the lever 8 is connected through the link 14 with the lower end of a lever 15 which is fixed to the other end of the pivot pin 2 for the lever l of the lateral feeder. A bell crank 16 for checking up an accommodated article is hinged on a shaft 17 secured to the frame A, a roller 18 mounted on the right end of the bell crank 16 is arranged to ride on the upper surface of the ribbon 3 while the lower end of the bell crank is connected with the longitudinal feeding claw 9 through a link 19. A pin 20 fixed to the other claw 12 is adapted to come into contact with the right-hand surface of the longitudinal feeding claw 9 after the claw 9 is released from the ratchet groove 10 asit moves in the clockwise direction. Furthermore, when the lon gitudinal feeding claw 9 is turned in the clockwise direction, the other claw 12 will turn synchronously in the same direction as the claw 9 for disengagement from the ratchet groove 10. Rotational movement of the longitudinal feeding claw 9 in the clockwise direction will be actuated simply by pushing to the left on the lower extension member of said longitudinal feeding claw 9 with a finger. The bell crank 16 for checking up the accommodated article is hinged to the shaft 17 so as to rotate slightly for maintaining constant equilibrium of weight which tends to turn toward the clockwise direction, so that when the ribbon 3 stacked in the uppermost layer is fed entirely from the left side magazine, the roller 18, provided at the right end of the bellcrank 16, is adapted to drop into the empty space 21 formed at the end of the ribbon 3 and the bellcrank 16 turns in the clockwise direction, then the longitudinal feeding claw 9 is pushed by the link 19 in the counterclockwise direction resulting in engagement with the ratchet groove and the lever 7 is rotated in the clockwise direction by the reverse stroke of the lateral feeder in the direction indicated by the arrow B1 through the medium of the lever 8 pivoted on the shaft 6 and the lever which is interconnected to the lever 8 by the link 14. Accordingly, the longitudinal feeding claw 9, which is hinged to the lever 7 at the left end thereof, is raised or lifted upwardly. At the end of the reverse stroke of the lever l, the left-hand magazine 4 mounted on the slide member 5 located at the left side, as shown in FIG. 1, is raised upwardly by one pitch spacing of the ratchet groove 10 and the other claw 12 is retained in the positionengageable with the next groove of the ratchet groove 10. As the magazine 4 on the left-hand side is raised up by one pitch spacing, the ribbon 3 stacked in the second layer is raised up to the height or level for lateral feeding operation, then the lateral feeding claw (not shown in the drawings) of the lateral feeder is engaged with the notch grooves 22 provided on the ribbon 3 for feeding the ribbon to the right by one pitch spacing at a time by means of the subsequent feeding stroke of the lever l in the direction indicated by an arrow A1, at this time the lever 7 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction by means of the lever 8 pivoted on the revolving shaft 6 through the link 14 pivoted at the lower end of the lever 15, consequently causing downward movement of the longitudinal feeding claw 9 hinged to the lever 7 at the left end thereof simultaneously with the rotational movement of the bellcrank in counterclockwise direction after the roller 18, which has dropped down into the empty space 21 formed at one end of the ribbon 3 and has been maintained with a ratchet groove 10 provided on a slide member 5 for a receiving rack B, the upper surface of the next ribbon 3 as it is displaced to the right, whereby the longitudinal feeding claw 9 is pulled by the link 19 to be rotated in clockwise direction resulting in disengagement from the ratchet groove 10 and to be positioned as shown in FIG. 3 at the end of feeding stroke of the lever 1 toward the direction indicated by an arrow A while in the subsequent reverse stroke of the lever l in the direction indicated by the arrow B1, the longitudinal feeding operation will not be carried out owing to disengagement between the longitudinal feeding claw 9 and the ratchet groove 10. It is clearly noted from the foregoing description that the longitudinal feeding claw 9 is disengaged from the ratchet groove 10 causing no longitudinal feeding operation as far as the roller 18, mounted on the bellcrank 16 at the right end thereof, is located above the ribbon and is pushed upwardly by the upper surface of the ribbon, and when the ribbon 3 is fed to the right and is entirely displaced from the magazine 4 on the left-hand side, the roller 18 mounted on the bellcrank 16 at the right end thereof drops downwardly again into the empty space 21 formed at the end of the ribbon 3 in the same manner as shown in FIG. 1 and the bellcrank 16 tends to turn in clockwise direction causing the rotational movement of the longitudinal feeding claw 9 in the counterclockwise direction as it is pushed by the link 19 into reengagement with the ratchet groove 10 for carrying out the longitudinal feeding operation again by one pitch spacing during the subsequent reverse stroke of the lever 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow B1. Thus the ribbon 3 piled in multiple tiers within the magazine 4 on the left-hand side is fed in turn to the central operating, station until said magazine 4 is emptied, engagement of the longitudinal feeding claw 9 and the other claw 12 with the ratchet groove 10 is released, as is hitherto described, by simply pushing with a finger against the lower extension member of the longitudinal feeding claw 9 toward the left and the slide member 5 located on the left hand side is displaced downwardly to its initial position.

The operation and mechanism of the magazine on the lefthand side has been described while the other magazine 26 on the right-hand side is quite similar in operation and in construction is symmetrical to that of the former excluding the mechanism comprising the lever 24 which is hinged to the longitudinal feeding claw 23 at its right end and is directly modating the ribbon 3 within the magazine.

The bell crank 28'for checking up the accommodated article is hinged to the shaft 27 to a slight rotation thereabout, the

shaft 27 is secured to the frame A and the other magazine 26 is.

located on the right-hand side, and is fixed to the receiving rack B. At the-reverse stroke of the lever 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow B1, the magazine 26 is displaced longitudinally by one pitch spacing, and the subsequently fed ribbon 3 is stacked in the second tier. Such operation is repeated successively whereby the ribbon 3 passing from the central operating station is received in turn within the magazine 26' locating on the right-hand side to be stacked in multiple tiers and when the magazine 26- is filled, the slide member 25 will be shifted to the initial position in the same manneroccurred as in the magazine 4 locating on the left-hand side.

The operation of an embodiment shown in FIG. 5 will now be explained in the following description.

In this embodiment the magazine locating on the left-hand side is actuated in an identical manner with the one located on the left-hand side in FIGS. 1 to 4, while the other magazine locating on the right-hand side is not provided with a ratchet mechanism for vertical feeding operation and the slide member 30 of the magazine located on the right-hand side is connected to the slide member 5 of the magazine on the lefthand side by means of a belt or chain 33 which passes over rollers 31 and 32. When the slide member 5 on the left-hand side is actuated in the upward and downward movement, the slide member 30 on the right-hand side will move to the same extent, and the weight of the slide member 5 on the left hand side is slightly heavier than that of the one on the right, so that the slide member 5 is apt to be lowered down all the time while the other slide member 30 has a tendency to be raised upwardly. At the same time, when the ribbon 3 accommodated within the magazine 4 on the left-hand side is fed toward the right and is entirely released from the magazine 4, the ribbon in the central operating station is displaced entirely into the magazine 26 on the right-hand side. For this purpose, the distance between the magazines-4 and 26 is predetermined so that the upward movement of the magazine 4 on the lefthand side and the downward movement of the magazine 26 takes place synchronously. ln the arrangement mentioned above, the ribbon 3 stacked in multiple tiers in the magazine 4 on the left-hand is fed, in turn, to the centraloperating station according to the operation explained with reference to the accompanying drawings in FIGS. 1 to 4, and the ribbon 3 which has been processed is displaced to the magazine 26 on the right-hand and is stacked therein in multiple layers, so'that the magazine 4 on the left is able to be moved downwardly while the magazine 26 on the right is displaced upwardly to be located at each initial position respectively-by means of the operative movement of the longitudinal feeding claw 9 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

The vertical feeder according to the present invention affords affective and reliable operation in a simple construction as well as contributing a remarkable effect for manufacturing integrated circuit and others. l

lclaim:

l. A vertical feeder for a magazine in a magazine feed apparatus comprises a longitudinally extending frame, a first magazine positioned adjacent said frame, a second magazine positioned adjacent said frame and spaced horizontally from said first magazine, said first and second magazines being aligned for transferring material from one of said magazines to the other, each of said first and second magazines having a plurality of vertically spaced tiers for holding material in a vertically stacked arrangement, means for individually supporting said first and second magazines for moving said magazines in the vertical direction for positioning the tiers in said magazines for removal of the material from one magazine and for inserting the material into the other magazine, means for displacing said magazines in the vertical direction, said means for individually supporting said first and second magazines comprising a vertically extending ratchet .groovemember having vertically spaced grooves therein, and said means forldisplacing 'said magazines in the vertical direction being operatively engageable with said ratchet groove member and being arranged to contact the surface of the material being displaced between said magazines so that when the material in one tier is completely displaced from the one magazine the contacting engagement with the surface of the material is discontinued and said ratchet groove member is engaged for effecting a mechanical lifting of said one magazine by a lever action.

2. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means for displacing each of said magazines in the vertical direction comprises a bellcrank, a shaft secured (to said frame and said bellcrank being pivotally mounted on said shaft intermediate its ends, a roller being secured to one end of said bellcrank and arranged to contact the surface of the material as it is moved from the adjacent magazine, a lever assembly is secured to the other end of said bellcrank and is operatively engageable with said ratchet groove for effecting lifting movement of said adjacent magazine when said roller is no longer in contact with the material being moved from one of the tiers of said adjacent magazine.

3. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said lever assembly comprises a first shaft mounted on said frame, a first lever secured to one end of said shaft, a second lever secured to the other end of said shaft, a feed claw engageable within the grooves of said ratchet groove member and hinged to the end of said first lever spaced from said first shaft, a second feed claw is pivotally connected to the frame and is engageable with the grooves of said ratchet groove member, a spring member for biasing said second feed claw into engagement with said ratchet groove member, a link member connected at one end to the end of said second lever spaced from said first shaft and extending laterally therefrom, a second shaft secured to said frame at a position remote from said first shaft, a feed lever secured to said second shaft and arranged to feed material from one said magazine to the other, a pin secured to said feed lever at a location spaced from said second shaft, and the opposite end of said link from its end connected to said second lever is secured on said pin for transmitting the movement of said feed lever to said second lever and in turn to said feed claw for lifting said magazine after said feed claw is engaged within said ratchet groove member when said roller on said bellcrank is no longer in contact with the material being fed.

4. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 3, wherein said means for individually supporting said first and second magazines each comprising a slide member, a receiving rack secured to said slide member, and one of said magazines being mounted onsaid receiving rack, said ratchet groove member being formed in said slide for lifting said slide and thereby vertically positioning said magazine supported thereon.

5. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 3, wherein a lever arm secured to and extending downwardly from said feed claw, for pivoting said feed claw out of engagement from said ratchet groove member.

6. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 3, wherein said means for displacing said magazines in a vertical direction comprising a belt lift assembly, said belt lift assembly comprising a pair of spaced rollers, a belt trained over said rollers and connected at one end to said magazine having said ratchet groove member, the other end of said belt member being secured to the other said magazine so that as said magazine having said ratchet groove member is moved vertically upwardly and downwardly said other magazine is moved vertically but in the opposite direction to said magazine having the ratchet groove member. 

1. A vertical feeder for a magazine in a magazine feed apparatus comprises a longitudinally extending frame, a first magazine positioned adjacent said frame, a second magazine positioned adjacent said frame and spaced horizontally from said first magazine, said first and second magazines being aligned for transferring material from one of said magazines to the other, each of said first and second magazines having a plurality of vertically spaced tiers for holding material in a vertically stacked arrangement, means for individually supporting said first and second magazines for moving said magazines in the vertical direction for positioning the tiers in said magazines for removal of the material from one magazine and for inserting the material into the other magazine, means for displacing said magazines in the vertical direction, said means for individually supporting said first and second magazines comprising a vertically extending ratchet groove member having vertically spaced grooves therein, and said means for displacing said magazines in the vertical direction being operatively engageable with said ratchet groove member and being arranged to contact the surface of the material being displaced between said magazines so that when the material in one tier is completely displaced from the one magazine the contacting engagement with the surface of the material is discontinued and said ratchet groove member is engaged for effecting a mechanical lifting of said one magazine by a lever action.
 2. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means for displacing each of said magazines in the vertical direction comprises a bellcrank, a shaft secured to said frame and said bellcrank being pivotally mounted on said shaft intermediate its ends, a roller being secured to one end of said bellcrank and arranged to contact the surface of the material as it is moved from the adjacent magazine, a lever assembly is secured to the other end of said bellcrank and is operatively engageable with said ratchet groove for effecting lifting movement of said adjacent magazine when said roller is no longer in contact with the material being moved from one of the tiers of said adjacent magazine.
 3. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said lever assembly comprises a first shaft mounted on said frame, a first lever secured to one end of said shaft, a second lever secured to the other end of said shaft, a feed claw engageable within the grooves of said ratchet groove member and hinged to the end of said first lever spaced from said first shaft, a second feed claw is pivotally connected to the frame and is engageable with the grooves of said ratchet groove member, a spring member for biasing said second feed claw into engagement with said ratchet groove member, a link member connected at one end to the end of said second lever spaced from said first shaft and extending laterally therefrom, a second shaft secured to said frame at a position remote from said first shaft, a feed lever secured to said second shaft and arranged to feed material from one said magazine to the other, a pin secured to said feed lever at a location spaced from said second shaft, and the opposite end of said link from its end connected to said second lever is secured on said pin for transmitting the movement of said feed lever to said second lever and in turn to said feed claw for lifting said magazine after said feed claw is engaged within said ratchet groove member when said roller on said bellcrank is no longer in contact with the material being fed.
 4. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 3, wherein said means for individually supporting said first and second magazines each comprising a slide member, a receiving rack secured to said slide member, and one of said magazines being mounted on said receiving rack, said ratchet groove member being formed in said slide for lifting said slide and thereby vertically positioning said magazine supported thereon.
 5. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 3, wherein a lever arm secured to and extending downwardly from said feed claw, for pivoting said feed claw out of engagement from said ratchet groove member.
 6. A vertical feeder, as set forth in claim 3, wherein said means for displacing said magazines in a vertical direction comprising a belt lift assembly, said belt lift assembly comprising a pair of spaced rollers, a belt trained over said rollers and connected at one end to said magazine having said ratchet groove member, the other end of said belt member being secured to the other said magazine so that as said magazine having said ratchet groove member is moved vertically upwardly and downwardly said other magazine is moved vertically but in the opposite direction to said magazine having the ratchet groove member. 